We know—Europe is big, and a European “look” doesn’t mean one thing at all. Short of moving your house to the Med (or the Baltic, Black, or North), there are things you can do to add some European flair at home.
NYC Architect Drew Lang notes that a nuanced color palette can look distinctly European.
1. Think painterly color palettes.
Photograph by Ty Cole, courtesy of Lang Architecture and featured in A House United: Reimagining a Brooklyn Brownstone.
In this Brooklyn project he says We used Fine Paints of Europe paint which is a Dutch paint rich and beautiful with a European sensibility Here he paired...
...a complex white with Italian Pietra Cardosa sandstone and the entire composition of carefully arranged tablewares behind glass paned upper cabinets was influenced by Italian painter Giorgio Morandi
Interior designer Ellen Hamilton knows a thing or two about creating a lived-in feel. In this new home in Washington, Connecticut, Hamilton and architect Reese Owens took inspiration from the Flemish countryside and used patinated, antique oak beams to add age and dimension.
Photograph courtesy of Ellen Hamilton.
2. Add reclaimed beams.
3. Source handmade light fixtures.
Here, a Murano glass fixture in the home of A Détacher designer Mona Kowalska.
Photograph by Matthew Williams, courtesy of Rizzoli (the apartment is featured in Required Reading: Brooklyn Interiors from Rizzoli).
Architect Lauren Rubin thinks handmade light fixtures lend a particularly European vibe: “The idea of a handcrafted light fixture that has been designed and shaped by an artist reminds us of a time in Europe when craftsmen were an essential part of the community,” she says.
4. Be thoughtful about window treatments.
Photograph by Elizabeth Felicella, courtesy of Studio Bartleby.
A Bartleby-designed TriBeCa apartment.
Architect Mary Chan of Studio Bartleby in Brooklyn says Europe creeps in on my window coverings we end up making custom coverings like interior shutters on a rail or fabric shades on a simple pulley to...
...really highlight the window or correct a proportion It s European to focus on details functionality and treating the covering as its own object she says rather than simply an object to cover up another thing
When she recently remodeled her own Brooklyn townhouse, architect Kanan Vyas of Kananshree Interiors (formerly Ka.Va Design) sought modern, energy-efficient windows and found European tilt windows to be just the ticket.
Herringbone floors in a German apartment by Leipzig-based Studio Oink, featured in Earthly and Ethereal: An Apartment Makeover by Studio Oink.
6. Incorporate herringbone.
Photograph by and courtesy of Studio Oink.
7. Add wood paneling.
Photograph by Laure Joliet, courtesy of Nicole Hollis.
Says San Francisco designer Nicole Hollis of a recent restaurant project: “For a Scandinavian or Nordic feel, we use white oak wood paneling in our interiors. (For more, see Remodeling 101: The Ultimate Wood Paneling Guide with Jersey Ice Cream Co.)
Designer Ellen Hamilton used decorative cement tile as a rug of sorts in her Flemish-inspired project in Washington, Connecticut.
8. Go traditional with cement tiles.
They will always remind me of the coastal cities of Italy, France, and Greece.”
Photograph courtesy of The Ludlow.
Exposed brass shower fixtures in a clubby New York City hotel.
9. Leave pipes exposed.
With drywall stud walls it is far more common to run the plumbing behind the drywall, so deliberately choosing to reveal it can give a European look.” (For more ideas, see Trend Alert: 10 DIY Faucets Made from Plumbing Parts.)
10. Source casement windows.
Architect Barbara Bestor specified outward-opening steel windows in a house in Los Angeles.
Photograph by Jessica Comingore for Remodelista, featured in A New England Kitchen by Way of LA.